What would you do? travel related

[npmommie]

so we have a WDW trip planned,staying at Beach Club.......hubby has been pestering for a California trip, says he never gets to decide where we go..........so I just checked Grand Californian prices, and there are some decent deals going on there too. ( haven't looked at all the hotels yet, just picked that one on a whim), i know nothing about disneyland.
......the kids won't care either way which park we go to.........they are just happy to go.

I was really looking forward to wdw and the beach club, but i kind of felt bad when hubby said he never gets to pick, and i guess its kind of true
but he lets me pick everything and never says anything, now he decides to complain

so for those that have been to both wdw and disneyland, would you switch the trip, is disneyland as much fun as wdw? ( is that a crazy question?)

 

[Pakey]

so we have a WDW trip planned,staying at Beach Club.......hubby has been pestering for a California trip, says he never gets to decide where we go..........so I just checked Grand Californian prices, and there are some decent deals going on there too. ( haven't looked at all the hotels yet, just picked that one on a whim), i know nothing about disneyland.
......the kids won't care either way which park we go to.........they are just happy to go.

I was really looking forward to wdw and the beach club, but i kind of felt bad when hubby said he never gets to pick, and i guess its kind of true
but he lets me pick everything and never says anything, now he decides to complain

so for those that have been to both wdw and disneyland, would you switch the trip, is disneyland as much fun as wdw? ( is that a crazy question?)

You can't compare the two. As a destination vacation, taking only the Disney parks into account, DLR cannot compare to WDW. However, if you are going to explore other areas while here, then yes, you can have a great vacation.

For us, DLR is a weekend trip. I couldn't spend a week + there.

 

[npmommie]

You can't compare the two. As a destination vacation, taking only the Disney parks into account, DLR cannot compare to WDW. However, if you are going to explore other areas while here, then yes, you can have a great vacation.

For us, DLR is a weekend trip. I couldn't spend a week + there.

Yes, I should have mentioned, if we switch to DLR we wouldn't spend the whole week there, we would explore the area, neither of us has ever been to california, so we would love to see the sights,
i already started getting travel books in the mail because we were planning to do this another time, but now i am thinking why not do it instead of wdw.
i am torn, and i almost feel like a kid saying " but i wanna go to wdw!"

 

[abdmom]

I would go where your dh wants to go. It has nothing to do with which is a better location for a vacation. It has to do with give and take. Sounds like it's his turn to decide where to go.

 

[RadioNate]

I love California and Disneyland. We went for 4 days last year and didn't do everything we wanted to do at DL. We didn't do anything else in the area.

I don't think it is a 10 day vacation alone but I loved it! It absolutely was just as fun.

 

[puffkin]

DL itself is no more than a 4 day destination. But there are tons of other things to see/do in the area. I think it would be a nice trip! We hope to do something similar in a few years when DS is a bit older!

 

[princess momma]

That's a tough one. I don't love Disney Land. It's a nice place, but it doesn't even compare to Disney World. Luckily my husband agrees with me.

The WDW trip is already planned, so maybe your husband could pick next time.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

While I love Disney, I would probably skip DL and travel around CA instead.

 

[cabanafrau]

The first thing that popped in my head after reading your post was, is your husband envisioning a trip to California to mean Disney at all, or is that the only way you'll consider his request? California is a big state, maybe he is thinking northern Cali?

A few years ago we were considering a trip to DLR & Cali and I got some great advice from DLR veterans. Almost universally they recommended staying offsite because onsite there really offers almost no advantages for the huge cost difference.

 

[npmommie]

That's a tough one. I don't love Disney Land. It's a nice place, but it doesn't even compare to Disney World. Luckily my husband agrees with me.

The WDW trip is already planned, so maybe your husband could pick next time.

thats what I said, he could pick next and his pick is California,
he wants to go to yosemite, and see the coast line, and maybe go as far as seeing redwoods.
i think its a trip on its own, no disney involved

While I love Disney, I would probably skip DL and travel around CA instead.

the only reason I would keep DL in the mix is for the kids, they already know there is a wdw trip planned and I don't think its fair to take that away since they are looking forward to it.

 

[Briarmom]

I would go to Disneyland and other parts of California. All the Disney parks have their own special things, and Disneyland is fantastic! We love it there. Plus there are other things to do in the area.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

the only reason I would keep DL in the mix is for the kids, they already know there is a wdw trip planned and I don't think its fair to take that away since they are looking forward to it.

Got it.

My kids would rather not go to Disney if we were going to Cali. There is so much we want to see there and they are older.

We took them when they were younger to San Francisco and had a great time. They want to go back to CA and NYC.

 

[sbell111]

We love WDW and love DL. Going to DL, I would spend time at Universal, seeing the sites, the beach, Magic Mountain, Knotts Berry Farm, etc

 

[diznygirl]

Former Californian and major Disneyland lover here - I say go for it! You can really have a nice time.

Of course, I'm very biased.

 

[eliza61]

......the kids won't care either way which park we go to.........they are just happy to go.

I was really looking forward to wdw and the beach club, but i kind of felt bad when hubby said he never gets to pick, and i guess its kind of true
but he lets me pick everything and never says anything, now he decides to complain

so for those that have been to both wdw and disneyland, would you switch the trip, is disneyland as much fun as wdw? ( is that a crazy question?)

Sorry, going to side with hubby on this one. Regardless to when he decides to complain, If you agree that it's true (you making vacation decisions) then it's time to give in to his suggestion.
Every vacation destination is different that doesn't mean you won't have a great time. It's just different.

I like Disneyland, I don't compare it to disneyworld because to me they are two different animals so to speak. I've had a great time at both.

 

[justhat]

I love DL, possibly more than WDW in a sense. It's just a totally different feel to me. Much less planning involved (in that I have always been able to get same day/next day ADRs while there, never have to call at 7am 6 months out, that kind of thing). And the Grand Californian is hands down my favorite Disney resort overall. I also think you could easily spend a week there and not be bored, simply because, for us anyway, when we get in the kids are always exhausted and ready for bed around 6-7pm since it's a 3 hour time difference (my kids are young though, so it may not apply to you). Then they are up super early the next day, and tired again, so it does take them a day or so to adjust. Then the flight home is typically early in the morning, taking the whole day, so that eats up another day of the week. So with a week there (or approximately), it allows us to take things slow, plan in pool time, character meals (which I find superior to WDW due to the variety of characters), etc.


That said, we went to Northern California in February and never came close to DL and had a blast. We flew into Reno, NV, drove to Tahoe where we stayed for 4 days to ski. Then we drove to Yosemite for 2 nights to hike around, see the sequoias, etc. Now, we happen to arrive right before a large snowfall, so with 2 young kids our hiking ability was limited and they cancelled the bus tours because of all the snow, but it was February so that was expected. Our return flight was out of San Francisco so we drove out there next and stayed another 4 days. Did all the touristy stuff in that area and drove up to Muir Woods to see the redwood trees. There was a decent amount of driving involved in this trip and it clearly took more than a week, but it was a lot of fun. And I loved driving from one climate to another, different elevations, topography, etc. It was fascinating to see windmills by the coast, produce groves, then huge pine trees and enough snow that you needed chains on your tires within a couple of hours.

 

[momrek06]

As someone that lived in New England her whole life, we only went to WDW. My family loves everything Disney. We would go every other year.

DH was transferred to Southern California last year. I AM NEVER LEAVING!! Not only to be 20 minutes from DL, we absolutely love going on vacation in the same state we live in. We travel everywhere. My DS just relocated here from Boston to San Diego....we travel down to see him maybe once a month but we go exploring the whole time we are down in SD.

As far as DL, this IS Walt's park through and through. I love that fact right there....that Walt put all his time and effort and energy into DL. He passed in 1966 and WDW did not open until 1971.

Friends of ours from Boston just came and spent one week in SoCal and we only got to the Parks ONE day. There was just so much to see in CA.

Come to California, OP, you will love it!!!

 

[pixiewings71]

You can't compare the two. As a destination vacation, taking only the Disney parks into account, DLR cannot compare to WDW. However, if you are going to explore other areas while here, then yes, you can have a great vacation.

For us, DLR is a weekend trip. I couldn't spend a week + there.

You're right, you can't compare, but not because DLR is a weekend trip, because they are entirely different animals.

thats what I said, he could pick next and his pick is California,
he wants to go to yosemite, and see the coast line, and maybe go as far as seeing redwoods.
i think its a trip on its own, no disney involved


the only reason I would keep DL in the mix is for the kids, they already know there is a wdw trip planned and I don't think its fair to take that away since they are looking forward to it.

CA is HUGE and we have a LOT to offer vacationers, North and South are very different, do some research and come see us on the DisneyLAND section of the Dis, you'll get some great ideas and feedback there. Trust me, DLR gets a lot of WDWers and many of them tell they like DLR better. It's a LOT smaller, there are only 2 parks, they are yards apart and hopping is very easy to do. You might be surprised when you realize how much you like it here.

As someone that lived in New England her whole life, we only went to WDW. My family loves everything Disney. We would go every other year.

DH was transferred to Southern California last year. I AM NEVER LEAVING!! Not only to be 20 minutes from DL, we absolutely love going on vacation in the same state we live in. We travel everywhere. My DS just relocated here from Boston to San Diego....we travel down to see him maybe once a month but we go exploring the whole time we are down in SD.

As far as DL, this IS Walt's park through and through. I love that fact right there....that Walt put all his time and effort and energy into DL. He passed in 1966 and WDW did not open until 1971.

Friends of ours from Boston just came and spent one week in SoCal and we only got to the Parks ONE day. There was just so much to see in CA.

Come to California, OP, you will love it!!!

OP we live 6 hrs away, we took 14 trips to DLR from July 07-July 08 and you can see in my sig how many we've done this year. NOW, a lot of those are just weekends but many are longer, we leave in a week for another 6 days there.......we love it!!

 

[Julylady]

One question is "How old are your kids?"

We have been taking assorted nieces and nephews to WDW for the past 10 or so years. About 4 years ago, we decided to try Disneyland for something different. We loved it! Like others have said, you can't compare the two. But for us, Disneyland park has a "charm" like no place else.

This past summer we took 4 and 7 year old nieces to Disneyland for 5 days. It was a fantastic trip. We took things slow and allowed them to repeat favorite rides several times. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and enjoyed taking the stroll into the parks each day (No busses!!). Because the parks are so much more "compact," the girls didn't get nearly as tired each day and didn't need an afternoon nap. That gave us time to swim at the Neverland pool which they LOVED.

If I was taking pre-schoolers, I would pick Disneyland OVER Walt Disney World.

Donna

 

[dislaney]

We finally made it to Disneyland this year and had a wonderful time. We only spent a couple of days there and I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do since it was a crowded time. We spent the rest of our time seeing California and even though I don't plan on doing this every year, we definitely plan on going back again!